


how can you see through the fog?

by pandoracorn



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, Dangan Ronpa 3: The End of 希望ヶ峰学園 | The End of Kibougamine Gakuen | End of Hope's Peak High School, New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing
Genre: Gen, I'm not writing kizajin for Kizakura's birthday? Wow!, Parent AU, jin is mentioned but only vaugely and in passing, non-despair
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-29
Updated: 2017-09-29
Packaged: 2019-01-06 23:41:39
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,018
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12221340
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pandoracorn/pseuds/pandoracorn
Summary: or, how kaede akamatsu gave her father a helping hand, when he needed it the most





	how can you see through the fog?

**Author's Note:**

> HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO BEST BOY. I LOVE YOU KIZAKURA.
> 
> I thought of this AU yesterday and I was in love so take it and also hate me a little if you want, that's also fair.

Things had been happy at first.

They always are, aren’t they? You know what I mean; that typical nuclear family unit, with a mother, a father, their child and their dog, maybe some other kids, pets and family members thrown in there, too. That was my family. My mother was a lovely woman, she loved gardening and was passionate about the arts - a dedicated painter who had a heart of gold. My father tried his best, though he himself was unemployed and was the so-called housewife who could cook the best plate of eggs to make anyone happy. We had a dog, a golden retriever called Saki, who was so playful and boisterous; my family had a joke that she had lip problems because her tongue was always out in that endearing, excited way that dogs always seem to perfect. And then there’s me; my name’s Kaede.

One of my favourite memories when my father took me fishing. I think I was 10, so I was at least competent enough to hold a rod on my own, though he still sat me in his lap for safety’s sake. His hands were on mine the entire time, just in case we caught a big one - which we didn’t, overall it was a very boring and unsuccessful day. But the reason it’s so special to me is because he gave me his hat. One thing you have to understand about my father; he never leaves anywhere without a hat on his head. He had this one hat that was special to him, he said it was from an old friend, it was a grey trilby hat that was kind of worn from years of love. And he just… gave it to me, just like that. It was too big for me, sure, and it went over my eyes so he had to pull it back a little, but I laughed anyways.  
“Hey, Kaede-chan?” He asked softly, resting his chin on the top of my head as we held the fishing rod together. “You make that look even better than your old man, you know? Your mom’s gonna leave me behind at this rate.”  
We laughed and smiled together all afternoon long, until we had to take the bus home (dad couldn’t drive) and we got hot cocoa with extra big marshmallows as soon as we got inside.

Oh, another nice memory was the day my family went to have a picnic in a flower field. It was spring, I think I was around 7 or 8 at the time, and all I could see around me was this… pungent, buttery carpet of yellow heads, sprouting out and smiling at the sun. My father said they were the same colour as my hair, and I giggled as he continued to braid blonde strands between his fingers. My mother looked at us and smiled the softest smile (all her smiles were soft, she had a very soft face) as she weaved stems of buttercups between her fingers to form a crown to place upon my head. She called me a princess, said I was the best thing to happen to the both of them, and she grabbed my little hands and kissed all the way up them.  
“Kaede Akamatsu,” she whispered to me, as I tried to catch a butterfly with my fingers, sat in my father’s lap. “With my beauty and your father's wit in one body, you’re going to be an unstoppable young woman someday. I can’t wait to see you grow.”  
I didn’t understand what she meant by that, but even though my mind was so young, I knew she was happy. And that made me happy too.

My mother left us when I was 12.

It was a sudden thing, I had no idea what happened until years later, when my father’s drinking was much worse and I had to carry him on my back. She wasn’t happy. Her smiles were facades, though the words she said to me still rang true in my ears… they didn’t seem as real anymore. But that wasn’t what I was worried about, strangely enough. The woman who gave me life was gone, she said she was proud of me and that I would go far, and even without those words, I don’t think my path would have been much different. But on the anniversary of her departure, when I was 16, that was when I saw how drained my father looked… he was empty. Broken.

I came in from a day at school, which was pretty much the same as any other, and put my bag down in the hallway, next to my shoes. Walking into the living room to make myself some strawberry tea, I found something… rather surprising.  
“Oh… good afternoon, father.” My voice was gentle, just in case I was mistaken and he’d passed out on the sofa again, in a drunken slumber. But no, he raised his head and shot me a smile - forced - as he slipped the phone he had in his hand back in his pocket. He was wearing clean clothes today.  
“Kaede… hi. What’s the time?”  
“After school, I just got back.”  
“Ah…” He looked away for a moment, at the bottle of bourbon by his feet, as if contemplating whether or not he should pick it up. And though his hand twitched, it didn’t move. “...Sorry.”  
“Huh? What for?” Though our relationship was rocky, I don’t remember him being… explicitly awful. He wasn’t neglectful, just really distant, and he certainly wasn’t abusive… I blinked in confusion, and he just said in response.  
“Nah, it’s just… you deserved better. So did she.”  
“...Mom?”  
My father nodded, and leaned back against the sofa, inviting me to take a seat beside him with a gesture of his hand, which I obliged to, still confused and unable to understand what he was trying to imply. He fell silent for another moment, before shaking his hair, shaggy blonde hair creating shadows on his face. “...I took her name, ya know. When she said she wanted a divorce, she told me that you always would be an Akamatsu, that you were better than I ever could be and were the only reason she stuck around… I was a bum, she said.”  
I could hardly believe the words he was telling me; mother was never that aggressive, or forward, or just… downright rude, was she? Placing my hands on my lap to awkwardly smooth out my skirt, I watched his face drop a little. I hated seeing him sad. I’d hated it ever since mother left, and ever since I saw the first letter arrive in the mail addressed to Mr Koichi Kizakura.

I had to help, somehow.

Like a flash, I rose up to my feet, feeling eyes on me as I did. I spun on my heels to give a knowing wink (he taught me that one) before I ran to the stairwell, jumping up a few steps to reach upstairs. Dashing around the corner so fast I felt wind on the back of my legs, I lept onto my bed from the open door of my bedroom - it was a totally pink room, with a lacy bed curtain trailing from the rail, and a keyboard in the corner of the room, my room had been this way since I was 6 - before reaching a hand under the bottom of my bed, feeling around under there with my tongue stuck out in concentration.  
“Kaede?” His voice travelled up from the bottom of the stairs, and even so many metres away, I could hear his confusion. “What’s up?”  
“Just a sec, dad!” I shouted back, stretching my arm a little more until I just gave up on going in blindly and started dangling from the side of the bed, narrowing my eyes to see in the shadows.  
“What’s the rush?”  
“I wanted to show you something!! Hey, can you do me a favour and make us some tea?”  
Dad didn’t reply right away, but I soon heard him heading back into the living room, mumbling to himself. With that, I smiled, and looked back to under the bed, letting out a small gasp when I found what I was looking for. Grabbing the object from the dark, I dragged it out and quickly flipped myself over, quickly sliding off of my bed and running down the stairs again with my hands hidden behind my back.

I stood in the doorway and watched as Dad made tea, his in a plain white mug and mine in the one I’d been using for years… one he’d gotten me just after Mom left, it was piano patterned because I told him I wanted to learn how to play. Once it was cooled, he put mine on the table, before turning and adding sugar to his- that’s when I sat down, and placed my present on the table, waiting for him to turn around and see-  
“...Is that-”  
“I kept it because it made me happy! ...Silly, right?” I gently tapped the old fishing hat he’d given me with a fond smile on my face. “I just… thought it was neat.”  
He stared for a moment, holding his mug in his hand as he leaned against the kitchen counter. “...You’re an odd one, Kaede. Just like your mother-”  
“I’m going to be better than Mom.”  
Dad looked at me, and I suddenly felt like I shouldn’t have been so impulsive and harsh. ...But, I guess there’s nothing I could do to stop him looking so surprised now.  
“...She said to me once that I was going to make her proud… but… I don’t want to make her proud. I want to make me proud. I want to make you proud - you were the one who wanted me more than anyone, not her. You were the one… the one who…” I fell silent for a moment, and just like that, the words left me… I stared at the hat like it was a centrepiece on the table. “...You were the one who kept me safe.”  
“...Ha.” His quiet laugh caused me to look up, just as I saw him knock his head back to drink all his tea in one. ...How? And he didn’t even look too pained, despite drinking a mug of hot tea. He placed his mug down on the counter to wash later, before looking up at me again, his eyes that were usually blue and kinda distant and misty now even more so.  
“...Dad? Dad, are you crying?”  
“Maybe. What’s it matter to you, kiddo?”  
I puffed out my cheeks like a young child, starting to tear up myself a little as he smiled, and walked over, reaching for the hat. Quickly, I snatched it up before he could grab and rushed to my feet, almost knocking over my mug. “Wait, let me do it.”  
It was so nice seeing him laugh again after so long, seeing the wrinkles on his face as he did, and feeling like a little kid again as he bent down a little so I could reach his head properly, as if I was a princess courting a knight. Dad soon stood up to his full height again, fixing the hat on his head with a soft frown. “...Does it look OK?”  
“It looks great! Maybe needs a wash because it’s kinda dusty, but,” I shrugged, “Still super good.”  
We shared a look and a smile, and for a moment, I felt like… things were OK. Like Mom was still here, like Dad wasn’t drinking himself into a coma and that I wasn’t the only one in this family with a dream of moving forward.  
"...Thank you, Kaede-chan." His face looked so soft, and genuine, and at that moment I couldn't help myself - I rushed forward suddenly and wrapped my hands around his neck, burying my face in his chest as I smiled, tears pricking my eyes.

My name is Kaede Akamatsu, my dad is Koichi Kizakura, and there’s nothing I wouldn’t change about that.


End file.
